This invention relates generally to apparatus for turning over landscaping top dressing materials such as mulches applied over soil for decorative appearance, moisture retention, and plant nourishment purposes, and more particularly, to a hand held rotary turner for turning over a mulch layer and thickening the layer for aerating and improving hydration and the appearance thereof, without significantly disturbing the underlying soil or other surface, and for optionally applying a treatment such as a fertilizer, pesticide, insecticide, fungicide, or the like to the mulch layer as it is turned, and a method for using the same.
Top dressings, such as, but not limited to, aggregate shredded wood mulches, wood bark mulches, leaf mulches, other organic material mulches, and man made material such as shredded vehicular tire mulches, are commonly used in landscaping beds around trees and shrubs for increasing the aesthetic appeal thereof, as well as for reducing weeds, improving hydration, aeration, and other useful purposes. Such top dressings typically have a desirable appearance when newly applied and for up to several weeks after application. However, after the passage of such time, the top dressing can begin to look dull and dirty, which is objectionable and undesirable for aesthetic purposes. Such top dressings can also naturally settle and compact so as to be less thick and as a result less permeable to water and air, which is unhealthy and undesirable for plants surrounded by the top dressing. Currently, to overcome these problems, it is known to use a conventional rake having a handle and fixed, elongate tines or fingers to xe2x80x9crakexe2x80x9d mulch top dressings. However, this is typically time consuming and often produces clumps and unevenness in the top dressing, and otherwise makes the mulch look less aesthetically appealing than desired. Raking is also a fairly exerting exercise.
Still further, it is periodically desirable to apply fertilizer to landscaping plants surrounded by mulch top dressings. A problem with placing fertilizer on mulch top dressings, is that sometimes the fertilizer will not penetrate adequately through the mulch to reach underlying soil and plant roots contained therein, due to the natural compacted or settled state of the mulch. Also, applying fertilizer with known commercially available spreaders can be problematic under the canopy or foliage of low shrubs, bushes, flowers, and the like.
Accordingly, what is sought is apparatus for more easily and effectively turning over and thickening or fluffing top dressings such as wood mulches and the like, optionally including an applicator for simultaneously applying treatments such as fertilizer, insecticides, pesticides, fungicides, and the like for reaching underlying roots, which does not suffer from the aforementioned problems.
In accordance with the present invention, a turner for quickly, easily, and aesthetically turning over and thickening a settled or compacted layer of an aggregate landscaping mulch material for overcoming the above discussed problems, and a method for doing so, is disclosed. The present turner includes an elongate cylindrical barrel having an outer cylindrical surface having a diametrical extent of less than about 5 inches and a plurality of elongate projections extending generally radially outwardly from the cylindrical surface at spaced locations thereon. The turner includes a handle supporting the cylindrical barrel for rotation about a cylindrical axis thereof. The present method includes holding the handle to push or pull the cylindrical barrel across a region of the layer of the landscaping mulch material to rotate the barrel such that the projections will penetrate into the mulch material and lift and reorient portions thereof to thicken the layer by aeration, that is, lifting and reorienting pieces of the mulch material such that a greater number of and larger voids exist therebetween compared to when in a more settled or compacted state, without substantially disturbing the underlying surface, and without requiring significant exertion by the user.
According to another aspect of the invention, apparatus for turning over and thickening a layer of an aggregate mulch material is disclosed, the apparatus including a roller having a cylindrical outer surface with a plurality of spaced, elongate mulch lifters or projections extending generally radially outwardly therefrom at spaced locations thereon, and a handle connected to and supporting the roller for rotation about a cylindrical axis therethrough, the handle being capable of being held to easily move the roller over a region of the layer of the mulch material having portions in a first orientation such that the lifters will penetrate the portions of the mulch material and lift and turn the portions over and deposit the portions back on the layer of the mulch material in a second orientation different from the first orientation, and as a result, thicken by aeration the region of the mulch layer, again, with minimal exertion.